Accordingly, systems and methods for content transmission are disclosed. In systems in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention, viewers enter requests for content items such as, for example, videos, at their set top box. Requests contain information such as the geographic location to which the content is to be transmitted, the time at which the viewer desires to view the content, and a price the viewer is willing to pay for the content.
The requests are transmitted over a broadband network, a back channel to a broadcast network, or both to a transmission network selector. The transmission network selector determines whether the content will be transmitted over a broadcast network or a broadband network. This determination is based on the information provided with the transmission request, information about the content itself, and information about the broadcast and broadband networks. Information about the content may comprise, for example, the duration of the content and the required bandwidth for transmission of the content. Information about the broadcast and broadband networks may comprise, for example, the available bandwidth on the networks, the geographic boundaries of the networks, and the cost of transmission at a given time of day on the networks.
Once a transmission network has been selected, the transmission network selector forwards a transmission notification to the viewer indicating the time the requested item will be transmitted and the transmission network over which it will be transmitted. Thereafter, the content is transmitted to the viewer.